The power of friendship, it’s definitely not a moral or plot point that has been underused in fiction. It’s no stranger to super hero comics either, yet it is still used often in the medium. With a good writer, it’s usually a pretty compelling and generally heartwarming moral (see James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy for a good example of that).

One thing that is important to make the premise work is that the characters having good chemistry. Each interaction between two characters needs to be unique from an interaction between a different pair. That’s one of the reasons why Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers will likely forever be one of my favorite comic series. It’s honestly one of the things that separates Geoff Johns’ fantastic run on Justice Society of America from his perpetually underwhelming Justice League series in the New 52.

Dan Abnett has shown that he’s very good at creating chemistry in the past, between his tenures co-writing Guardians of the Galaxy and Heroes for Hire.

He once again shows this skill with Titans: Rebirth #1.

It’s another “power of friendship” story, but, like a good one, it’s a very enjoyable read and it’s pretty heartwarming. The premise is that Wally West, having reintroduced himself to Barry Allen in DC Universe: Rebirth #1, is trying to reconnect with his former teammates from the Teen Titans: Nightwing, Arsenal, Tempest, Donna Troy, and Lilith. He arrives to find them not recognizing him, but, one-by-one, they remember him upon making physical contact with him. The Speed Force is somehow showing his allies flashbacks which awaken their memories of Wally West. He then tells them what he learned from his time away and that someone has stolen time from them. The team, now reformed, agree to prevent it from happening again.

And that’s the entire issue, and I really enjoyed it. It’s not particularly action-packed, other than the Titans attempting to incapacitate Wally in the beginning. It’s a primarily character-driven issue, and it works. The scenarios that are shown in the flashbacks are all really nice and, honestly, pretty sweet. If you like these characters, you’ll really like this book. If you’re not that familiar with them, it will give you a clear picture of who they are.

Brett Booth does very good work here. He is a situational artist with a unique and recognizable style. On heavier, darker books like Geoff Johns and Jeff Lemire’s Justice League of America, his art didn’t really fit the tone of the book. However, his art was definitely welcome on lighter books like Nightwing and The Flash. Here, in this upbeat book about friends reconnecting, it was definitely welcome. His artwork looks good on its own, it just needs the right home. The inking and coloring coincide with his art very well too. The inking solidifies the details very well, and the colors are very dynamic.

Also, it seems like this book is going to be involved a lot in the big, looming story that lies in the background of Rebirth. This especially seems to be the case given that Wally West is in the book.

There’s not much more to say, really. The book was really good, and it continues Rebirth’s streak of putting out really good and refreshing books. It made me very excited about what’s ahead in this series. Pick it up, it’s definitely worth a read.